Not necessarily.
There are three gasoline companies that have been observed in Laos.
All three in fact can be observed in Vientiane city. They include
Caltex, Shell and a state owned company. These are the only three
and it does appear that they have control over the gasoline market.
However to prevent competition among the three companies what they've
done is to spread out with only certain companies establishing gas
pump locations in particular areas. Caltex and State-owned tend
to appear in locales further away from the city core such as the
suburbs. Meanwhile, Shell has locations throughout VTE, within and
around the city core.
Also worth mentioning
is that there are many black market locations that sell bottles
of gasoline for between 5000-6000 kip to compensate for the hours
of when gas pumps aren't operating and for the lack of gas stations
in many areas.
The following
pet peeves have been shared by not only those at LCW but by also
local Lao people, acquaintances and friends who have shared their
comments with us. The Top 5 Pet Peeves are:
1. policemen
- They target everyone, especially foreigners, for money. Will often
stop you to check your vehicle id papers and ask for your driver's
license. For example, if you're missing your driver's license, then
they take your vehicle card and pretty much wait until you give
them money to return your card. They try to scare with some expensive
scenario of having to go to the head office and having greater fines.
Note: Some are nicer than others though.
2. tuk-tuk
drivers - This particular issue was asked in the Vientiane
Times people's opinion page. As well, there was a special article
in the Vientiane Mai newspaper about how price gouging tuk-tuk drivers
are creating a bad image for Laos. Everyone, again especially foreigners,
complain about how these drivers price gouge them while charging
locals 200% less. Unfair indeed. If you have to pay for a service
in Laos that costs equally or more in your own developed country
then you know you're being ripped off.
Everyone understands
that these policemen and drivers, like everyone else in Laos, are
trying to make a living. But this kind of behaviour paints a very
bad image of Laos. An image that is already fragile due to many
controversies. Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in
Laos. And it cannot afford to have foreigners and tourists leaving
Laos with only negatives images due to these two groups of people.
3. extreme
weather - You can get very bizarre weather. For example,
hell-like hot days or there can be a full week of hard rain. Also,
the temperature can actually drop quite low during certain months
- a surprise when most assume that Laos has tropical weather.
4. pollution
- Lots of dust from unpaved roads and smog from all the traffic
in the city. Tip: Wear a mask and helmut when driving. The cheapest
helmets are around 30,000 kip and a fabric mask is only 3000 kip.
5. open
drainage - The smell is nasty with many different ranges!
For professional reasons, we won't even get into that as the descriptive
words we'll have to use will be just too colorful. =)
